Tag Archives: jobs

The business community in County Clare hosted one of the busiest job shadow events in the country last week. The job shadow initiative promotes inclusive workplaces and equal employment opportunities for people with a disability or illness. A week of activities allows jobseekers to experience different work environments by spending a day working with managers and staff. Helen McQuillan, team leader with EmployAbility Clare was delighted with the way local businesses embraced Job Shadow 2015. “This year, we focused on businesses and work environments that would provide participants with a really good insight into a typical working day and make them feel welcome. The people who took part this year are all active jobseekers, so the job shadow experience is matched to their particular skills and interests,” she explained. First to sign up was TTM Healthcare, an international health and social care recruitment company. Pádraic Hayes spent the day in the company’s busy head office in Ballymaley Business Park in …

February 22, 2015Comments Off on Carey calls for SME support awareness

Arising from the low take-up of Government supports, a major awareness campaign is to be launched in Clare to inform SMEs of the programmes in place to assist start-up businesses. And local Dáil Deputy, Joe Carey has claimed the campaign is warranted as there are 80 Government supported programmes in place to support SMEs but “most people don’t know about these schemes and there is a very low take-up rate”. “With SMEs and regional growth taking a central focus in this year’s Action Plan for Jobs, we need to ensure that all existing businesses and start-ups in Clare are aware of the support on offer”, he added. The awareness campaign will consist of national and local radio advertising, online advertisements and the launch of a new website. “SMEs employ 650,000 people in Ireland, and start-ups account for two thirds of all new jobs created. SMEs are hugely important to local business life in Clare and I would urge anyone involved …

January 11, 2015Comments Off on Major jobs announcement on the horizon

CLARE is expected to get its most significant jobs boost for a number of years within the next 12 weeks. While there is some uncertainty about the exact number of jobs that are to be created, it’s believed that it will be in excess of 500, possibly even in the region of 700. The company in question is a multinational based in Shannon and it is understood they have won a significant amount of new business and need new workers. This week, some informed sources said they expect the jobs will be announced within the first quarter of the year. It is understood that there are likely to be a mix of highly skilled and unskilled positions created. The company that is set to create the jobs has been based in Shannon for a number of years. They already employ several hundred staff and have increased headcount in recent times, while management have previously said that Ireland is a very …

The December 2014 Live Register figures published today (Wednesday) show a decline of 3,300 compared to the November figures. This represents 37 consecutive months of decrease in the live register and means that the unemployment rate now stands at 10.6 per cent, down from a peak of 15.1% in February 2012. More than 140,000 people left the live register to go into employment over the last 12months. The figures also show that the live register has decreased in all eight regions of the country over the past 12 months. Both the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton and the director of the Small Firms Association, Patricia Callan have welcomed the improved position, confirmed in the CSO figures. However, Ms Callan stated, “It is imperative that the Government delivers a comprehensive Action Plan for Jobs 2015 later this month. As a general principle, we believe that every single policy emanating from Government should be centrally “job-proofed”, as many different …

December 3, 2014Comments Off on Element Six adding 40 jobs and more may follow

ELEMENT Six are taking on another 40 staff in Shannon and say that there is likely to be scope for further growth due to a €25 million capital investment and the relocation of €20 million of assets to the Shannon plant. Five years ago the company announced redundancies and the overall number of Shannon employees dropped to 250. However it has since rebounded to around 360 and is now set to hit 400. Walter Huhn, Chief Executive of Element Six, was in Shannon on Wednesday and he said that the painful cost cutting measures introduced in Shannon have secured the future of the plant, and led to a situation where it is now expanding again. “We started the restructuring in Shannon five years ago with a very clear focus on what we wanted to achieve, what we had to achieve because the global market was changing and the competitive environment was changing. We had to be even more of a …

November 15, 2014Comments Off on EU blows aviation incentives off radar

Government plans to create thousands of jobs in a potentially lucrative business at Shannon Airport hang in the balance, after the European Commission vetoed a special tax incentive scheme designed to attract major international investors. The Government has been forced to start new negotiations with EU authorities to try to come up with an amended tax break plan, which was a flagship project that was earmarked to generate thousands of jobs, by facilitating the construction of aircraft maintenance hangars and ancillary facilities in Shannon. The decision has been described as a “disappointing set-back” and a “serious blow” by Fianna Fáil Deputy Timmy Dooley, who hopes efforts will continue to ensure the revised plan will be successful. However, Fine Gael Deputy Pat Breen believes this move does not jeopardise Shannon Airport’s efforts to develop an international aviation centre and will, in fact, “probably put Shannon in a stronger position”. Deputy Dooley expressed concern the revised tax incentive package would be much …

THE number of people working in Enterprise Ireland (EI) client companies in Clare rocketed last year, according to figures presented to the Dáil by Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton. There were 1,580 people in full-time jobs in Enterprise Ireland’s Clare-based client companies in 2012, which jumped by 921 to 2,501 last year. In addition, the number of people working in non full-time roles in EI client companies increased substantially, from 194 to 365. Indeed, the number of client companies in the Banner increased by just over a quarter, from 120 to 151. Separately, there is speculation that one Clare-based multinational could announce the creation of several hundred jobs in the early part of next year. If this comes to pass, it would be by far the biggest employment boost seen in the county for years. Enterprise Ireland is the State organisation responsible for supporting the development of Irish enterprises that are involved in exporting. To put EI’s …

October 2, 2014Comments Off on Beckman Coulter to close in Galway but Clare plant to stay

Beckman Coulter, the biomedical testing company, has announced it is to close its Galway facility transferring production to other facilities, with the largest component moving to its plant in County Clare. The Galway facility, where Beckman Coulter have been operating for 42 years, employs 140 people. Between 70 and 80 of the jobs based in Galway are expected to transfer to Beckman Coulter’s facility in O’Callaghan’s Mills. In a statement issued by the company Beckman Coulter says it expects to offer incentives to encourage its existing associates to accept positions in Clare. “The Galway production will be phased out over the next 12 to 15 months and the facility is expected to close by the end of 2015,” a spokesperson for the company said. Beckman Coulter has been in County Clare for the past nine years, having acquired the diagnostics business of Olympus corporation. By Carol Byrne